Life-raft



'A, w. LYDA. LIFE RAFT.

APPLICATION EILED MAY 29, I918- 1,369,289, I Patented Feb. 22, 192i 2 SHEETS-SHEET I ama -w; 1m: 9'? time. tha 1 1 333922 v v pphcation filedglvlay 29,

q'lhe. objects; of the. present ilnven l are, first,,toprovide alife raft or. supplemental deck-so constructed. that iita willul p rallel with". the sides v ofathe. vess l; second; to. pro:

vide; a netting. or torpedo guard and-ad ustment f0r1the;.nettiugrandrtorpedo guardso that. it-qcan he placedfiim position to; protect the F. vessel and -.:also gto elewate the. torpedo guard so as not to decrease thJEiSpBGd of.-the

vessel ,ewhen out; of. the :dangermzone, third, to providemeans for elevating and lowering the :torpedorguard from the bridge of; the

vessel, andfourth,.to sojconnecti the life raft that .it can :be; instantly: opened or detached if desired, and; therebyzreleaserthe-vessel. 1. With these .ipobjects. in view; the. invention consists in the: novel; i construction :and .:ar rangement of parts; h ereinafter described, illustrated in the accompanyingmdrawings, and particularly pointed. out an the-appended claim, it beingumdrstfeodlthatiyarious changes inthe form,-proportions,-size and minor details of construction may be made within the scope of the appended claim,

withoutdeparting from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

' In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a We sel provided with av combination life raft and torpedo net.

Fig. 2 is a top view showing a portion of the life raft. a

Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the life raft showing the netting in lowered position.

Fig. 4 is a similar ting elevated.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of the torpedo net.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawings. r

In the accompanying drawings, 1 represents the vessel in a conventional way and View showing the netwithin itself has no specific reference to the present invention, except to applying my peacesate; i. Rate-Idea Feb. 2; 1921.

1. 9 :Scria1 -No'.- 27,3391

supplementaldeclrs 2are formed of a length to correspond with the length of the vessel; and, are constructed of suflicient size-to carry passengers, 'crew,,freight, supplies and suclr other: articlesas' may be inecessaryi order to save:lives. .The life raft is composed: of,,or made up of two members, said members .are ,locatedrupon opposite sides of theevessel and are hinged-together attheir best illustrated ineFig. 2. The life 'raftis 'propelledbythe; contact of the bow of the yesselwagainst the ends ofxthe 1l ifefraft. In case of.zthe.. backirrg-'of.thevVesSel it will be ends: by'vzmeans 'ofisuitable pins such as '3', r."

propelled eby-the: sternicoming in 01113 1; v

with the inner ends of the life raft members so that the lifeiraft will. move with the ves s'cliand be in position .-.to be occupied by passengers andcrcw oftheyessel,and-also such articles as: 1 may be necessary to place upon thellifei raft.-+ It will *be understood that the endsofthe life raft 2 should be proprided -.with suitablei fianges lhav-ing eyes [5 through whichthe pins 3 arepassed in substantiallyzsthef same "manneras the connection of the-leaves of 'fianordinary hingeQ connected-the brackets 7, to "which brackets arepivoted the" swinging arms 81 About mid-way between the outer ends of the arms 8 and their pivotal points are connected the cables 9, which cables are wound around suitable drums 10 mounted upon the shafts 11, which shafts are rotated by suitable connections from the bridge or other place of electric motor. To the outer ends of the arms 8 are connected the net carrying arms M the vessel and are actuated preferably by p 12, to which are attached thetorpedo guards or nets 13. i V v In the perspective view the torpedo nets are shown in a conventional way, but I pre fer to form the torpedo nets of hollow rmgs 13 connected together as shown in Fig. 5. These hollow rings are connected together by loops or their equivalentslt and should be water tight, thereby adding buoyancy to the torpedo guard proper. By forming" the rings hollow they are comparatively light .and'yet will be formed of sufiicient strength i to turn the course of a torpedo by the moves ment of the guard and the vessel carrying the guard.

When the vessel is moved through the water outside of the danger zones the net is carrying arms from swinging intoa position.

brought into the position shown in Fig.- 4,

and when the boat reaches the danger zone the torpedo net or guard is lowered as shown in Fig. 3, by which arrangementlthe guard will protect the sides of the vessel,

owing to the fact that ifa torpedo strikes the guard it will be shunted by the movement of the vessel, but if in the event an explosion should take place it will be less liable to in jure the'vessel, and for this purpose the guard is spaced some distance from the sidesof the vessel. a

. For the purpose of preventing the net other than vertical when lowered, the loops 14 are provided, which loops surround the arms 12 and their ends are pivotedto' the.

' arms'8, by which arrangement the arms 12 lowered as shown in Fig. 3chains or. their 1 are held in substantially true. vertical position. If in the event the vessel should be.

sunk cables can be thrown from one life raft member to another, by which arrange? ment a temporary raft can be provided,

there being sufiicient cables to support any pontoon structure that may be desired. In

order to have the cables position for use' ,rying arms 12 vin position and prevent any outward 'movement: when the guards are equiv'alentslG are provided, which chains are connected at their outer ends to the upper ends of the arms 12 and the inner ends of said chainsare connected to the life raft in any convenient and well known manner.

' It will be understood that in order to protect the bow and stern of the vessel the torpedo guard should be located at front and rear and by this arrangement the entire vessel will be protected. I

If in the event the vessel should detachedat either end and the vessel moved out after which thelife raft members can bebrought together and connected, thereby constituting a life boat-well adaptedto carry passengers and crew together withfreight. It will be understood that my invention can beappliedto freight-going vessels and if 7 become disabled the liferaft members can be easily desired suitable gunsmay be mounted upon the life raft for protection after the vessel has been destroyed as it will beunderstood that ammunition can be readily transported from the-vessel to the life raft or ammunition may be carried upon the life raft.

. Having fully described my invention what I 7 claim as new and desire to secure by: Letters'Patent', is- Y J Inadevipe of the character described, the

combination of avessel, a life raft carried by said vessel, and surrounding the same, said life raft formedin sections and :the secs tions hinged together'and means for releas ing thesections at oneof their-ends. 7

2 In testimony that I claim the above, Ihave hereunto subscribed m name. i 7

- VAR W.:LYDA;;

- I Luor B. :MoCm-mr. I 

